Ductile-phase toughening in V-V{sub 3}Si in situ composites
- Lawrence Livermore National Lab., CA (United States)
- General Electric Co., Schenectady, NY (United States)
This article describes the room-temperature fracture behavior of ductile-phase-toughened V-V{sub 3}Si in situ composites that were produced by arc melting (AM), cold-crucible induction melting (IM), and cold-crucible directional solidification (DS). Composites were produced containing a wide range of microstructures, interstitial impurity contents, and volume fractions of the ductile V-Si solid solution phase, denoted (V). The fracture toughness of these composites generally increases as the volume fraction of (V) increases, but is strongly influenced by the microstructure, the mechanical properties of the component phases, and the crystallographic orientation of the (V) phase with respect to the maximum principal stress direction. For eutectic composites that have a (V) volume fraction of about 50 pct, the fracture toughness increases with decreasing ``effective`` interstitial impurity concentration, [I] = [N] + 1.33 [O] + 9 [H]. As [I] decreases from 1,400 ppm (AM) to 400 ppm (IM), the fracture toughness of the eutectic composites increases from 10 to 20 MPa {radical}m. Further, the fracture toughness of the DS eutectic composites is greater when the crack propagation direction is perpendicular, rather than parallel, to the composite growth direction. These results are discussed in light of conventional ductile-phase bridging theories, which alone cannot fully explain the fracture toughness of V-Si in situ composites.
- Sponsoring Organization:
- USDOE, Washington, DC (United States)
- DOE Contract Number:
- W-7405-ENG-48
- OSTI ID:
- 590063
- Journal Information:
- Metallurgical and Materials Transactions. A, Physical Metallurgy and Materials Science, Journal Name: Metallurgical and Materials Transactions. A, Physical Metallurgy and Materials Science Journal Issue: 12 Vol. 28; ISSN MMTAEB; ISSN 1073-5623
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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